Do quantum computers already exist in Nature? It is proposed that they do. Photosynthesis is one example in which a ’quantum computer’ component may play a role in the ’classical’ world of complex biological systems. A ’translation’ of the standard metabolic description of the ’front-end’ light harvesting complex in photosynthesis into the language of quantum computers is presented. Biological ...

This article presents a dual-frequency (DF) dual-input-dual-output interface based on reconfigurable switching converter for thermoelectric energy harvesting. The DF operation decouples the rate of extraction at input stage from distribution output stage. automatically makes transitions among two energy-harvesting modes and one energy-recycling mode according to load condition. low-frequency ha...

This paper describes the specification of requirements and the functionality, of a novel agricultural mechanisation system based on small smart machines. It separates the current mechanisation methods from the original plant requirements and in doing so allows a new specification to develop based on agronomic, economic and environmental needs that can lead to a more sustainable production syste...

Mexico is the largest cactus exporter of the world and 40% of the production cost is provided from the harvest operation. Many workers are required to operate daily and suffer wrist pain after two weeks of collecting pears with mechanical pruners. A motor driven tool supplied from a photovoltaic system was employed for harvesting; different blades were tested at different cutting speeds. It was...

This paper presents a simple and efficient interface circuit for electrostatic energy harvesting devices, which uses neither controlled electronic switch nor inductor. A built-in voltage multiplier enables to get bias voltages higher than the circuit output voltage, resulting in an increased power output. This interface circuit was implemented using off-the-shelf components. Its operation was v...

The overarching goal of this research project is to develop technologies for beneficial salinity management. Specifically, the project focuses on the energy and resources recovery from reverse osmosis (RO) desalination concentration, which can reduce the cost associated with desalination operation and minimize the environmental impact associated with the disposal of desalination concentrate. Th...

Light-driven degradation of photoactive molecules could be one of the major obstacles to stable long term operation of organic dye-based solar light harvesting devices. One solution to this problem may be mimicking the regeneration functionality of a plant leaf. We report an organic dye photovoltaic system that has been endowed with such microfluidic regeneration functionality. A hydrogel mediu...

The paper presents a numerical energy harvesting model for sensor nodes, SIVEH (Simulator I-V for EH), based on I-V hardware tracking. I-V tracking is demonstrated to be more accurate than traditional energy modeling techniques when some of the components present different power dissipation at either different operating voltages or drawn currents. SIVEH numerical computing allows fast simulatio...

A rapid technique for multiple organ harvesting is described which allows removal of all the major organs within 30 to 60 minutes after beginning the donor operation. No preliminary dissection of the liver or kidneys is required or necessary since these organs are cooled by infusion of cold solutions in situ and with subsequent rapid dissection in a bloodless field. The incidence of well functi...

In this paper, we report a technique that uses piezoelectric polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) microbelts to convert the energy from low-speed air flow to electricity via their resonant oscillation. The micrometre thick PVDF thin films were fabricated by a top-down reactive ion etching process, where the thickness was controlled by etching time and the piezoelectric phase was well preserved. The t...